The Nets couldn't keep up with the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night, falling 110-103 in their first game of the 2026-27 season.
It's Brooklyn's sixth straight season-opening loss.
Here are the takeaways...
-- As expected, head coach Jordi Fernández went with Egor Dëmin, Keon Ellis, Michael Porter Jr., Julius Randle and Day’Ron Sharpe as his starting five on opening night against a Hornets squad without star Kon Knueppel and Coby White.
The group got out to a hot start, making five of their first seven shots and building an early 11-5 lead. But then they went cold and couldn't contain Brandon Miller, as the former No. 2 pick scored 10 straight during a 14-3 run. Miller finished with 12 in the first and helped Charlotte go up 27-23 at the end of the quarter.
-- No. 6 overall pick Mikel Brown Jr. entered for the first time with 3:57 remaining in the first quarter. He scored his first bucket on a strong and-one layup, providing a much-needed spark for the offense and kept it going in the second quarter, sinking a three right out of the gate.
-- Tensions were rising in the second quarter with the two sides going back-and-forth, culminating with Noah Clowney and Ryan Kalkbrenner pulling and shoving each other and both players receiving technical fouls for the tussle. The physical contest continued and the Nets defense began to pick it up, with Sharpe making a big block at the rim and Ellis getting a steal in the backcourt for an easy layup.
Although, Charlotte still outscored Brooklyn in the second quarter (27-25) and led, 54-48, at the half. Miller had a game-high 17 at the break, while Randle kept the Nets close with 15 points, four rebounds, and five assists.
-- Porter finally got going in the third quarter by making two straight three-pointers and Randle scored inside to cut down the Hornets' lead. Porter kept it going and drilled another three-pointer, converting a four-point play, to put the Nets back up 64-62 with about eight minutes left in the quarter. But then it was Grayson Allen's turn to catch fire, hitting three three-pointers of his own as the Hornets retook the lead. Brooklyn's high-scoring period (33-32) brought them to within five, 86-81, heading into the fourth quarter.
-- Inconsistencies on defense continued to hurt the Nets, as they couldn't stop Dennis Schroder and went down 10 points midway through the fourth quarter. Any comeback attempt was stopped at a four-point gap as Charlotte was able to hold on for the rest of the game.
Both teams shot just 45 percent from the field and committed 20 turnovers each, but the Hornets key to victory was outrebounding the Nets 43-38, recording 20 second-chance points, and dominating the paint all night.
-- Randle finished with 33 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, joining James Harden and Kyrie Irving as the only Nets with at least 30 points, five rebounds, and five assists in their team debut, per Nets PR. Porter was second on the team in scoring with 26 points (5-for-11 from three), while Dëmin struggled with just four points (2-for-10) and Brown had six points in 20 minutes in his debut.
Game MVP: Grayson Allen
Allen was lights out from deep (6-for-9) from three and finished with a team-high 21 points and was a plus-22 off the bench for the Hornets.
Highlights
Julius Randle gets on the board in his Nets debut 👏 A smooth turnaround jumper! https://t.co/h99BqiTQIX
— NBA (@NBA) October 21, 2026
Mikel Brown Jr. scores his first NBA bucket! A nice finish through contact 😤 https://t.co/6YE6LgFY7s
— NBA (@NBA) October 22, 2026
YEA MIKE! three triples in the 3Q 🎯 https://t.co/bkiWQwhsiT
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) October 22, 2026
Up next
The Nets head out to Cleveland to face the Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, and the Cavaliers on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.